1. Take first 5 ingredients and sauté or wok for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat. This will create a nice glaze on the mushrooms but not turn them into mush.

2. Take the next 4 ingredients and toss together to make the salad.

3. Take the dressing ingredients into a glass jar and shake to mix.

4. Pour dressing over salad mixture, then top with the warm mushrooms. Garnish with some sesame seeds and cilantro. Eat immediately. The warm mushrooms will start to melt the avocado and it’s so yummy!!!

This recipe was a failed attempt at making an amazing soup by a local restaurant in Gainesville, FL called Tempo Bistro to Go. Even though mine is no where near as good as their’s

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

1- 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1- 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1- 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

4 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped, unsalted dry-roasted peanuts

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Mix in the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrot, and continue to cook and stir about 5 minutes.

2. Pour water into the saucepan, and season the mixture with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

3. Remove the soup mixture from heat. In a food processor or blender, blend the soup and peanuts until almost smooth. Season with cayenne pepper. Return to the saucepan. Whisk in the peanut butter, and cook until heated through. Serve warm topped with fresh cilantro.

Thank you all so much for continuing to read my blog and grow my following!! Big things are happening and it’s such an exciting time. As my last blog post mentioned I have moved from my native Florida to the mountains of North Carolina. I am loving the “no-ac-needed” type of weather. I love putting the top down on my car and driving through the blooming mountains, and I really love making new friends! But even with all these awesome things happening for me, I was still a little homesick last weekend. Sunday’s in Gainesville, FL are known for brunches! So many restaurants serve an amazingly vegan friendly brunch in Gainesville, and here in the mountains….well you can go to the pancake breakfast at the church, but it’s not very vegan 🙂 Anyone that knows me, knows that I don’t give up without a fight though, so I decided I would try to recreate the famous Top’s Vegan Biscuits and Gravy. I expected to have to test the recipe out many, many….MANY times, but actually I rocked it on the first try. So without any more rambling, here is the super easy, super yummy, not for everyday, recipe!!!

Biscuits:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 Tbsp of Baking Powder

1 Tsp of Sea Salt

1 cup of original almond milk (or soy milk…just not flavored)

4 Tbsp Earth Balance (or non-dairy margarine)

Directions for Biscuits:

1. Preheat over to 425

2. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

3. Using a fork, press margarine into the flour until there are little flour coated pebbles in the bowl

4. At milk and combine till dough is slightly uniform. It will be lumpy…don’t over work the dough.

5. Spoon balls of dough onto an ungreased baking pan. Place them so that they touch (biscuits like to be close to one another and will rise together.

6. I dropped a small droplet of olive oil on the top of each dough ball and then salted the tops.

7. Bake for 12 minutes

GRAVY TIME:

2 cups of tempeh chopped

1 cup of unflavored almond milk

2 Tbsp of olive oil

1 Tbsp of corn starch

salt/pepper

*added seasoning could be a Cajun hint to the sauce…I used Old Bay seasoning because it reminds me of southern foods

2. After tempeh is browned, do not remove from pan, but push to one side of pan. Add the additional 1 tbsp of olive oil and cornstarch. Lower temp to medium-low heat and whisk the oil and cornstarch. You just slightly want to cook this combination, probably won’t take longer than a minute.

3. Add almond milk and whisk together. Simmer for a few minutes as it thickens. This should happen quickly.

When the biscuits are done, split one open and spoon that gravy over it! Yummy!!!

1. Add the broccoli and a pinch or two of sea salt and a teaspoon or two of water (the water will help to steam and soften the broccoli once covered) into a skillet over medium-high heat. Toss the broccoli through, cover and let cook for just 2-3 minutes.

2. As it is starting to turn to a brighter green color, remove the cover to your skillet, add the bell peppers, and saute through for another minute.

3. Add the teriyaki sauce, and increase heat to high. Toss the sauce through the vegetables, and let the sauce come up to a slow boil. Once the sauce is at a slow boil and has thickened, cashews, and green onions, toss through the sauce and remove your pan from the heat.

4. Serve immediately over rice noodles, soba noodles, or a whole grain of choice such as brown rice or quinoa.

It’s getting cooler outside!!! Yipppeee!!! That means we can welcome the yummy fall flavors like pumpkin, butternut squash, apples cider and mint!! I thought I would start off fall with a recipe that have tested for two years, and have finally got it down. First time I made this, I didn’t cook the rice long enough. The next time, it ended up too sweet. Then too salty, then too spicy. UGH…but I finally have it down!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb. Arborio rice

1 cup white wine

6 cups vegetable stock

15 oz. can pumpkin puree

2 tsp. curry powder

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes, more if you want the dish to be spicy

3 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast

¼ c. chopped fresh parsley

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent.

2. Heat vegetable stock in another large stock pot on low. This is just to keep the stock warm, so that it’s not cold when you add it to the rice.

3. Add rice to onion/garlic mixture and stir well to coat with oil. Allow rice to toast for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Add wine and stir until totally evaporated.

4. Add 1 – 2 cups of stock and mix well. Allow to cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated, stirring often. Continue adding stock by ladle, stirring and cooking until liquid has mostly evaporated each time.

5. At last addition of stock, also stir in pumpkin puree, curry powder, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes.

6. Cook until rice is tender, but the rice is still a little “loose” or wet. The nutritional yeast will thicken this up quickly.

7. Turn off heat and fold in nutritional yeast, remaining tablespoon of olive oil and parsley. Season to taste and serve immediately.

Hi all!!!
Today while running I caught a great breeze and it almost felt like fall. Early fall is time for pomegranates, and I’ll be honest. I pretty much only eat these once or twice a year because they are such a pain to eat! But I found a little gem hiding at Trader Joes….

Directions:
1. Toast raw barley in 1 Tbs of oil for 2-3 minutes over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Then pour in 2 1/4 cup of water, and bring to summer. Cover, reduce head to low and cook 45-55 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. You can also follow the directions on the container of barley (there are instant brands out there).
2. Once barley is cooked, spread it all out onto sheet pan to cool. Add s/p.
3. Bake butternut squash in 1 Tbs of oil at 425 degrees for 35 to 40 minute.
4. In the last Tbs of oil, sauté onion until translucent. Add red pepper flakes and barley and cook for about 5 minutes or until warmed. Stir in parsley and squash carefully so that you don’t crush it. Cook 2 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat, stir in pomegranate and pistachios. Serve warm or room temp.